good food with simple ingredients

Community Meeting, Half Marathon, Bark Fest And a Noodle Bowl

by apuginthekitchen on May 23, 2016

It has been a crazy few weeks. Have to say it is kind of a blur. Our neighborhood has been fighting a proposal by DOT to change Clinton Ave a two way street into a one way street with TWO buffered bike lanes. Safety for everyone on that stretch came into question. There are many big coop buildings with MANY elderly and disabled residents and we saw flaws in the plan because (in a nutshell) they did not take into account emergency vehicles, delivery vehicles, access-a-ride- fire trucks, sanitation trucks not to mention how the elderly and disabled can cross two bike lanes to get to their vehicles or service car. The plan was ONLY considering cyclists. The 2 way (NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE IN BROOKLYN) buffered bike lane would be curbside thereby eliminating curb side parking for residents with cars, the city has long been trying to make it as difficult, unsavory and as expensive as possible for those who drive. Limited parking would be in the middle of the street and the one lane would be going north bound. Traffic from the eliminated lane would be diverted to my street and one other. My opposition to this plan is because of safety issues for the residents but also the block I live on CANNOT safely sustain any more traffic, it is already a bumper to bumper traffic nightmare during certain times of the day and it would get much much worse.

Even the elected’s had concerns

I don’t own a car, I walk, take public transporation or even bike from time to time and I am all for safety for cyclists but this plan is only taking them into consideration and not the needs of the community as a whole. We fought back and fought back hard, opposition was HUGE and loud and it got ugly because the people from Transporation Alternatives, a very powerful and wealthy lobbying group for the cyclists were there to try to discredit us. In the end DOT temporarily withdrew their proposal and promised to go back to the drawing board, we will see but we are still mobilizing and fighting because the battle is has not been won there is only a short reprieve. More to come on this one.

Brooklyn Half Marathon

I had the honor and priviledge of holding the tape for the winners of the Air Bnb Brooklyn Half Marathon. What a great day it was, beautiful weather for running and over 27,000 runners started at the Brooklyn Museum on Eastern Parkway and the race ended at Coney Island. The race started at 7AM and I had to be at the finish line before 7:30AM, a very early morning, Percy is not used to having his morning walk at 5AM but he was a really good sport.

Bark Fest

Percy is ready for bark fest

My friend Carla and I took our dogs, Percy and Olive to Bark Fest. It was in Manhattan on Pier 97 on the west side of the city. We bought VIP tickets which gave us some perks. It was my first bark fest, last year Nando was very ill and I couldn’t go, I have heard it’s fun so thought we would give it a try.

It was a beautiful day, not too hot a little over cast which was good for the dogs. I would have preferred it were held in a park with grass rather than a concrete pier. The people from Bark Box were the people who organized it. Honestly, it was ok but we were a little disappointed, It was packed there were thousands of people there, only 2 food trucks we had to wait in line almost 2 hours to get something to eat, there was a long line for everything. We got there right when it opened at 2 PM and got a few minutes in the VIP lounge but after that there was over a 1 hour wait to get in. Would I go again? Doubt it.

Spring Roll Bowl

I saw this on Pure Wow and thought it looked easy, delicious, light and fresh and I wanted to immediately make it. I did just that and it was really good, so good in fact that I had to make it again and tweak a bit. The first one I made I used chicken which I sauteed in sesame oil as called for in the recipe, the second time I marinated a pork tenderloin in soy sauce, lime, sesame oil and ginger. It really is a wonderful light meal.

Spring roll bowl with chicken

SPICY PEANUT SAUCE

¾ cup smooth peanut butter

2 teaspoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

¼ cup rice vinegar

⅓ cup water

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon agave or honey

2 teaspoons minced ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Sriracha

Salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the ingredients for the peanut sauce and process until smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time. Set aside.

carrot, cucumber,watermelon radish spiralized

The bowl

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts or you can use pork tenderloin

sesame oil

boston lettuce

scallions

carrots ( I spiralized a purple carrot you can grate or cut into strips

straight thin cut rice noodles

cucumbers cut into strips

Avocado cut into slices

sesame rice crackers (optional)

Place some rice noodles in a bowl and fill with boiling water add some salt, add a little salt and let sit until noodles soften.

Clean lettuce and place in bowl, saute the chicken in sesame oil, season with salt and pepper and slice.

Dear Suzanne, the spring roll bowl looks delectable in both versions. With such pretty colors too. Yum! Sorry the Bark Fest wasn’t better. The doggies look awfully cute in their gear though. Great pics of you two pet moms too. 😀
Now… that so called proposal is absolutely deplorable. Few times have I ever seen something so ill thought and downright ridiculous. Was somebody somewhere getting paid?! Yeesh. It’s pathetic. Yes, stay mobilized. That group you mentioned clearly means to be a problem.
Sending you all the best. Hugs.

Thanks Teagan, I am exhausted, this community stuff is really in your face constantly sort of stuff. Everywhere I go I am having to talk about it. It is a horrible plan, I can’t believe that DOT has the nerve to even propose it. Yesterday when I was at bark fest at the pier, I had to cross two bike lanes they are exactly like the ones DOT wants to impose on Clinton and let me tell you. it was scary. The bicycles don’t stop, you can’t effectively look both ways because bikes come out of nowhere I almost got hit. Had to pick up Percy and dash across almost getting clipped. Bad idea. Hugs back my friend.

I’m with Percy, I dont want my morning walk at 5am either 😉
Yes Barcelona installed a public bike transport system and even though I also go everywhere walking / underground / bus / and even the bike once in a while, they’ve made the whole city easier for cyclists and not for anyone else! There’s no point in driving to get somewhere in the city anymore because there are hardly any parking spaces left… because now they are all cyclists lanes! And ANY car park is stupidly expensive ofcourse. And not to mention that depending where you walk to have to literally have eyes like a fly because there are cyclists whizzing at about 200 miles per hour all over the place. Grumpy me…. I’ll sleep in with Percy. xx

Luckily I will not have to wake up that early for a while I think, not my cup of tea either. Yes cyclists here in NYC do not obey traffic laws, don’t stop at red lights or stop signs, go high speed many with ear buds listening to music, at night don’t have lights on their bikes and nothing is enforced here. It’s dangerous. Very annoying. Thanks so much Sofia.

Such an interesting and varied post, Suzanne. I don’t like crowds either, but they’re inevitable at special events like this one. At least Percy had a nice day out. It’s just a pity they didn’t provide more food vans. Your recipes are excellent! I’d normally opt for chicken over pork but the pork tenderloin looks very succulent.

I’m glad you were at least able to get the decision postponed regarding your street, Suzanne. It really sounds like a nightmare. It is so great you had a lot of people turn out for the meeting. Glad it was cloudy when you went to the Barkfest since you had to wait in line so long! It is kind of surprising it wasn’t in a grassy area. Your noodle bowl sounds so yummy, especially the peanut sauce. So much flavor going on there! Enjoyed your post and pictures. We just found out my son is moving to NY in June. He got a job there. We are happy for him, but sad for us! 😦

Thanks Shari, yes we are cautiously optomistic but still on our guard even with the postponement we are still not trusting who we are dealing with. Thank you so much, wow your son is moving here, will you be brining him here? Would love to meet up. I know, it is sad and you will miss him.:o(

What a busy schedule you’ve had Suzanne! What a crowd at Bark Fest, definitely too many people for me too! My inner introvert would have been running for the hills 😉 Love the recipe for peanut sauce. Usually we’ll purchase it at the store but it’s pricey and always has so much sodium.

Incredibly busy Heather, thank you so much, I tend to be a loner, but it was not in the cards for me to be my usual loner introverted self this last week. I added no salt at all to the peanut sauce, you are right it is much too salty when you get it commercially prepared.

Wow your life has been a whirlwind! Kudos to you for helping to stand up to DOT. I hope you get a little break while they review again. Shame on Bark Fest for holding such a poorly planned event, on concrete no less! And your spring roll bowls look fantastic! I kind of made a spring roll bowl of sorts the other night, not by design but because I was trying to make shrimp spring rolls and I COULD NOT wrap the rice papers into rolls to save my life. After my third attempt when the rice wrapper literally exploded in half and dumped all the contents on to the plate, I said screw it and added more lettuce and turned it into a salad. I used the dipping sauce (homemade sweet chile sauce) as the dressing. It turned out pretty darned good! Take care of yourself Suzanne and give the cute Percy a big hug and a smooch from Kathryn. xoxo

It has been a whirlwind and I have had a couple of days to unwind before it starts all over again this week. Our neighborhood really came together and DOT could not move forward with the plan as proposed. We thought for sure CB2 would vote against and then the mayor would say too bad it’s gonna happen anyway like he did just a few weeks ago in Queens. We got lucky but the fight continues. I love how your spring roll bowl sounds, and that sweet chile sauce yum. Happy accident for sure. Thanks so much Kathryn.

Wow Suzanne congrats on postponement (for now). Here in sunny Florida Bikes/cyclists are everywhere too-we drive defensively! Love, Love, Love the salad/sauce/spiralizer-Woo Hoo! We have the same one. AS for that love Mr. “Percy” what a trooper to get up soooooooooo early with you and travel to Coney Island. Doggie Bag needed that day for sure-fruit, juices, water, crackers, munchies. etc. Never cared for lines myself?!?! Active life leads to a great long life-remember that! Your bud in Fl. Cheryl xx

I am so sure that in Florida you have a really active bicycle culture. It’s becoming more and more popular here in NYC and there is nothing wrong with it but people who drive cars and the residents who live in the neighborhood have rights as well, the proposal was totally one sided. We continue to fight, Thanks so much Cheryl, Percy was a busy boy this weekend. He has been sleeping for the most part since we got home yesterday. Have a wonderful evening!!

Who wants two bike lines. People and dogs will get knocked over by bikes. Keep up the good fight Suzanne . The salad bowl looks fantastic. Maybe I break down and buy a spiralizer, do you have any recommendations .

What a bust time you’ve had! The community meeting sounds horrible! And what a shame about bark fest, I have to say, you stuck it out well, I would have left.
And the dish looks lovely, lovely the dressing sounds very tasty 😀😀😀
I hope this week is calmer xx

I know right, stressful is what it was. Prepping for meeting went into the wee hours, then not one but 2 meetings. The marathon was great except for having to be there at 7:30 AM and Coney Island is not close to me. Bark Fest I really was disappointed, had my hopes that it would be relaxing and fun and it wasn’t. Oh well, a new week and hoping for good stuff. Thanks so much Elaine.

You are right, I could have used roasted peanuts and it would have been better. I have never tried grinding peanuts or other nuts in my blender to see if I can make my own nut butters, Next time I will try that. Thank you so much Stefan, I was also thinking that roasted chopped peanuts would have been good sprinkled on top instead of cashews. Thank you so much.

I hope some headway comes to play with this road issue you are having. It sounds like a bit of a nightmare. I don’t know about where you are, but issues like that here, take forever !!! Percy looks so happy and wonderful Suzanne, you have such a happy little man there. Hugs to Percy 🙂
All those people at Bark Fest would have driven me crazy !!! But, at least you have done it, now you know how those things roll.
Your Spring roll bowl in both chicken and pork looks amazing ! You have some great flavours going there 🙂 Yum

Thanks Lynne, not sure how long it will take with the road thing, normally things move slow but the lobbying pushing DOT wants everything on the fast track and the mayor cowtows to them. We will see, they were not expecting the huge push back from the community, it threw them off. Lets hope they stay away. Thank you again, Percy is a love!!

Lol, yep Percy is a party pug for sure. He is so good in almost any situation. So compliant, doesn’t complain or get bent out of shape. He takes things in stride. I know he was uncomfortable at bark fest. I brought his stroller but he didn’t want to stay in it. Too much to sniff and see. Thanks so much Julie.

Suzanne! SO cool that you got to hold the tape at the end of the marathon. Wow. I volunteered at the end of the NY Marathon when I lived there and always loved it. Such great energy and accomplishment in the runners, even amidst their exhaustion.
I love that Percy didn’t want to stay in his stroller. 🙂 Isn’t his bag cute?! I’m sorry Bark Fest wasn’t all you hoped- sounds too big, and how weird it wasn’t in a grassy area.Ol and I are very excited to see y’all next month!
Good for you for standing up for your community! Love, Em

I had a great time at the marathon and holding the tape was an honor. The runners were great, have mad respect for them. I LOVE his bag, love his name on it, it’s just perfect, his collapsable bowl and water and treats fit very nicely in it and his little hat snapped right on. Yes why not let the dogs have grass. The cement pier although a nice spot was not great for dogs IMHO. See you soon!!

I enjoy reading your stories. When I was growing up in the Catskills, one of our summer neighbors was Mitchell Silver who is now Park Commissioner of New York. My family left New York years ago, but I follow him on facebook and continue to be impressed with the job he is doing for the parks! The park system in New York looks fantastic.

The parks here are amazing, so beautiful and a welcome green space for all. In my neighborhood the only park dogs are allowed in is sort of far from my house. The small parks have BIG no dogs allowed signs, not fair. I think that will be my next community work, a small dog park centrally located for all of us. Thank you so much.

Wow- you have been super busy!!! Congrats on the bike lane reprieve. I hope the DOT comes up with a better plan. You and your neighbors made some excellent points about easy access to curbside parking for your elderly residents. We have a crazy bike culture in and around Boston, unfortunately many of the suburban roads that I drive on were originally (and literally) country lanes… narrow, winding, and not at all safe for biker and cars to travel simultaneously- but that doesn’t seem to stop anyone. Safety should definitely be the priority for all parties- biker, pedestrian, and driver. PS- Percy is a LOVE. What a good boy hanging out so chill at Bark Fest. And, your noodle bowl looks spectacular. I adore all those flavors and textures.

I feel it’s very dangerous here to ride a bike with cars whether it’s in a protected lane or on a sharrow. I got my first taste of what it’s like to cross a two way bike lane the other day at bark fest and it was a very scary experience. Some of the bikes were going in excess of 25 mph and do not look or stop for pedestrians. I could go on and on about the bike culture here in NYC but won’t it gets me angry. Thank you so much, yes that Percy is such a good boy and a good sport. It was hard on the little guy at bark fest.

I am with you… crowds and brutal lines up are not for me, not at all. Percy is very fashionable with the burgundy collar, I like it! As for your recipe, it is funny because yesterday I wanted to buy the slicer for the vegetables but I hesitated…. with your recipe you make think that I made a mistake… it looks delicious!

SO much in this post Suzanne! First– well done you! I know it’s not the end of this zoning battle, but you headed them off with all your hard work! So glad! — and exciting about the marathon, to be right there at the finish line! Fun to see you Percy out and about… and the dish is so bright and colorful!! Love pork– you made it look so delish! So much fun to read, but I”m mostly so happy with you about the stay in the lane changes. Congratulations.

Thank you so much Rhonda, it’s not over but it’s a temporary stay and we are still fighting because we want the entire proposal dumped. It’s a bad idea. Gambling the safety of many for a handful of cyclists is abhorrant. Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day Holiday with your beautiful family.

You’ve already done so much on this– here’s hoping and praying it does get stopped completely. Hope your weekend is great too. (we had the kids and bar-b-qued tri tip for my birthday today– lots of noisy fun!).

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